UMC to kick off 14nm production earlier than expected

Taiwanese foundry UMC is close to initiating mass production on its 14nm FinFET process. In a conference call with investors, CEO Po Wen Yen said shipments will start sometime in the first quarter of this year. Initial manufacturing capacity will consist of 2,000 wafers per month and UMC claims it has numerous customers running test chips.

In conference call to discuss UMC's 4Q16 financial results, Po Wen Yen, CEO of UMC, said: "With regard to our advanced 14-nanometer technology, we have recently made substantial progress for this advanced node. Following intensive engineering activities with our customer, UMC’s 14-nanometer transistor performance has delivered speed and leakage results which are comparable with the industry’s 14-nanometer standards. Our yields have fulfilled customer requirements, and we anticipate 14-nanometer wafer shipments to commence in first quarter 2017, highlighting our determined efforts to reach this important milestone."

The news indicates UMC has accelerated deployment of its 14nm node. A year ago the company predicted it would enter 14nm production in the second half of 2017, and in October 2016 the company indicated Bitcoin mining company BitFury would be the first volume production client in Q2 2017.